St Mary's Stadium

[bpsaint]

45 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Information on fan zones; what's happening in each one and timings here: https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/three-fan-zones-launch-at-st-marys-for-premier-league-opener?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=stadium-changes&utm_term=fan-zones&utm_content=link

 

This is genuinely a decent move by the club as long as prices aren’t too stupid.

Discovered last season that since Bluestar took over First and changed the routes slightly I can get a bus pretty much door to door so am happy to hang around here on a match day until the bus queue dies down.

The fact that it’s going to open at half time too to dilute the concourse crowd is a good move.

[SaintNewForest]

Personally, I'd much rather spend the money at one of the local pubs, and not pouring more money into the club who are (comparatively at least) awash with cash. 

[East Kent Saint]

At our local non league club they've introduced several bars around the terracing as well as the clubhouse !!

[Give it to Ron]

2 hours ago, bpsaint said:

This is genuinely a decent move by the club as long as prices aren’t too stupid.

Discovered last season that since Bluestar took over First and changed the routes slightly I can get a bus pretty much door to door so am happy to hang around here on a match day until the bus queue dies down.

The fact that it’s going to open at half time too to dilute the concourse crowd is a good move.

Thats where it falls down £6:20 a pint of Cider or Kingfisher shite £7:30 for Sapporo the Guiness ok at £5:90.

I will use my Camra vouchers in Spoons at £2:13 a pint!

Edited 21 August, 2024 by Give it to Ron

[hypochondriac]

Good luck to the club with this venture but I can't see it being overly popular unless they discount the cost of food and drink to below local prices. Why would you want to walk miles to hang out by the stadium when you could just have a few drinks at the pub?

[SaintsLoyal]

I walked past today and their still putting up more fences, it looks like a prison and a throwback to the 80s 

As for the fanzone, not for me, fans should continue in their usual drinking holes to keep them from closure.

 

 

 

[Chocolate Box]

But have they repaired the bloody roof??!!!!!

[Saint_clark]

If they want that fan zone at the Northam end to work they need to just get planning permission to build an actual pub. Don't worry about profit, price the drinks at just above break even. 

[suewhistle]

1 hour ago, Chocolate Box said:

But have they repaired the bloody roof??!!!!!

What has Old Trafford got to do with it?

I shall continue to use various pubs with decent beer as the fizzy stuff at football grounds is often too cold, tasteless and makes me burp..

[ant]

Keeping the Northam fan zone open until 9pm is optimism beyond belief. 

And even if it does work, as somebody that runs an independent pub (sourcing & serving the best local & national brews) I question why the club deserves yet another slice of the pie. Especially when only serving macro slop.

If it were building upon last season's guest bar setup (predominantly provided by Dancing Man) then fair enough - that'd be some welcome support towards local commerce. 

But it's all so transparently 'stack 'em high; sell 'em not so cheap'.

Sticking a couple of bands and DJs on doesn't change the fact that the club clearly sees you as a walking wallet.

[SaintNewForest]

15 minutes ago, ant said:

Keeping the Northam fan zone open until 9pm is optimism beyond belief. 

And even if it does work, as somebody that runs an independent pub (sourcing & serving the best local & national brews) I question why the club deserves yet another slice of the pie. Especially when only serving macro slop.

If it were building upon last season's guest bar setup (predominantly provided by Dancing Man) then fair enough - that'd be some welcome support towards local commerce. 

But it's all so transparently 'stack 'em high; sell 'em not so cheap'.

Sticking a couple of bands and DJs on doesn't change the fact that the club clearly sees you as a walking wallet.

 

They're keeping the fan zones open till 9pm? What feedback have they had to warrant that, because I can't see the average football fan still being at the ground 4 hours after the final whistle. 

[CSA96]

Ambitious perhaps but I don't think 9pm is ridiculously crazy or anything. Pubs close at midnight but are usually emptying out quite a while before close. There will be a lot of test and learn in these early stages for the commercial and fan engagement staff

They're obviously assuming that people will leave SMS at about 5pm, with another PL game on TV at 5.30pm - and are thinking that if they can get people in to watch that game and let the traffic pass, then the late game ends at 7.30pm and gives 60 minutes until last orders

I might be tempted in to avoid the traffic and crowds moving back to the city centre immediately after the final whistle if there's an exciting enough evening game/it's pissing down outside the ground and I'm not ready for it, but I can't see myself ever being there at 9pm (unless we've had one hell of a result ) - but it might be a handy tie-over until the train out of Southampton Ctl as an excuse to let the crowds go and not be crammed like sardines over the bridge and on the train

Edited 22 August, 2024 by CSA96

[Convict Colony]

If it doesn't involve monkeychickens I'm not interested 

[Turkish]

The Northam wall makes it's competitive debut this weekend! Exciting times to see everyone stood for 90 minutes giving it large in our own Kop end we've been dreaming about for years. 

How do you think it'll go?

[JRM]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

The Northam wall makes it's competitive debut this weekend! Exciting times to see everyone stood for 90 minutes giving it large in our own Kop end we've been dreaming about for years. 

How do you think it'll go?

Hopefully will improve the atmosphere but likely end up with different blocks singing over each other rather than in unison. 

 

If, and its a big if , we manage to get the three points then it will undoubtedly be the best whey whey wheeeey we've even seen from Martin 

 

[iansums]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

The Northam wall makes it's competitive debut this weekend! Exciting times to see everyone stood for 90 minutes giving it large in our own Kop end we've been dreaming about for years. 

How do you think it'll go?

Will be interesting for sure, I'll be watching carefully from my comfortable seat in the Kingsland.

[Ex Ringwood Saint]

Well, me and the now 18 year old lad have left the safety of the old family center corner of the last 10 years and have ventured into block 46.. Look forward to not having 5 year olds doing the waaankaa sign and disinterested parents nodding off... Should be a blast.. As long as the seats have been cleaned after seasons of away fans rs's... I'm sure everyone will be moaning about something after a few games and harping back for the good old days.....

[Saint_clark]

Annoyingly working during the game tomorrow. Interested in seeing some clips from the other end of the ground to see how noisy the Northam can make itself tomorrow, if anyone is able to get some. 

[iansums]

35 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Annoyingly working during the game tomorrow. Interested in seeing some clips from the other end of the ground to see how noisy the Northam can make itself tomorrow, if anyone is able to get some. 

It's ok, the game is on Saturday, not tomorrow 😀

[OldNick]

5 hours ago, Turkish said:

The Northam wall makes it's competitive debut this weekend! Exciting times to see everyone stood for 90 minutes giving it large in our own Kop end we've been dreaming about for years. 

How do you think it'll go?

Im hopeful it will be fantastic. 

[Wurzel]

1 hour ago, JRM said:

Hopefully will improve the atmosphere but likely end up with different blocks singing over each other rather than in unison. 

 

If, and its a big if , we manage to get the three points then it will undoubtedly be the best whey whey wheeeey we've even seen from Martin 

 

Stood behind the goal at the Lazio game and despite being only half full that was exactly what happened. It'll probably take a few games of everyone getting used to their new spot but if the singing gets coordinated properly it has the potential to be one if the best ends in the PL

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

I was expecting some of this 1885 group to have organised themselves over the summer with a few new chants but going by Newcastle last week it doesn't appear to have happened. So it's still just OWTS, the cringey skate shit and a couple of others. Hopefully it will improve as the season goes on but for me, just making noise is as good as singing. Would be good to develop a 'Northam Roar', the kind of thing you used to get in football grounds years ago, particularly with corners down that end.

I'm an old git in his sixties but I'm in the Northam Saturday (not around for United and back in the KIngsland for Ipswich), my support is a bit industrial so I'm looking forward to seeing how it is Saturday, hopefully leaving with a sore throat!

[JRM]

2 hours ago, iansums said:

Will be interesting for sure, I'll be watching carefully from my comfortable seat in the Kingsland.

Kingsland Centre is the new front line , you'll be expected to take on the duties of the Itchen North and intimidate the away fans so don't get too comfortable 

[Pamplemousse]

It will all depend on if we win or not. If we get an early goal I suspect the atmopshere will be pretty decent.

[Midfield_General]

This will be the first game I've taken my nephew to so raise your game please lads, if it's rubbish tomorrow he'll end up wanting to support PSG or some shit

[SteveGc]

The fan zones look pretty good. The white structure was getting cleaned but in the photos still looks filthy. All that metal needs jet washing by the looks of it as well. Shame they let the stadium get so bad, I read somewhere it had been ranked one of the dirtiest.

[bpsaint]

Don’t know if it’s stadium wide but the painted murals in the Northam are fucking brilliant.

Weird being in what has been the away end for the last 23 years.

 

[Turkish]

How was the wall?

[Fabrice29]

Really glad everyone got moved around for that. Top stuff.

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

Can I ask, in which thread do we talk about todays match vs Notts Forest? 
Depressing 0-1 result - need to reed some opinions from my fellow Saints supporters

[Colinjb]

2 minutes ago, Kristian Loekkegaard said:

Can I ask, in which thread do we talk about todays match vs Notts Forest? 
Depressing 0-1 result - need to reed some opinions from my fellow Saints supporters

 

[EssEffCee]

23 minutes ago, Turkish said:

How was the wall?

About a standard St Marys atmosphere imo.

Started well but trailed off after about ten minutes when most people start looking at their phones instead and/or get bored of the umpteenth rendition of OWTS.

[Whitey Grandad]

8 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

About a standard St Marys atmosphere imo.

Started well but trailed off after about ten minutes when most people start looking at their phones instead and/or get bored of the umpteenth rendition of OWTS.

That's exactly how I saw it. Just when we needed them they gad all gone quiet. 

[SaintsLoyal]

As expected a massive flop when things on the pitch are the same.

the pirate banner looked tacky.

[Matthew Le God]

The club need a rethink on the fanzone design. People in the fanzones obstruct the flow of people around the outside of the stadium before and after the match. Was very poorly planned!

[6ft8saint]

Could the red wall be any quieter. I thought the whole point was to intimidate opposing teams. 70% of the game they were pretty quiet. Need a conductor to push songs on it sounded as though forest had one

[Whitey Grandad]

13 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

The club need a rethink on the fanzone design. People in the fanzones obstruct the flow of people around the outside of the stadium before and after the match. Was very poorly planned!

Oh yes indeed. The North car park was a nightmare. The burger van in the middle only made things worse. I wasn’t clear if the blockage was caused by too many people or queues for the burgers or those standing around watching the TV screen or those listening to the live band.

Over 30,000 people have to get away after the game and blocking one of the main escape routes isn’t a very good idea.

Why don’t they turn the fan zone thing around and have it facing north?

I expect there will be changes for the next game.

[EssEffCee]

23 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

The club need a rethink on the fanzone design. People in the fanzones obstruct the flow of people around the outside of the stadium before and after the match. Was very poorly planned!

Yeah I thought that too, especially pre game. Took me fucking ages to get from the bottom of the footbridge to the other end of the Northam.

Poorly thought through.

[EssEffCee]

8 minutes ago, 6ft8saint said:

Could the red wall be any quieter. I thought the whole point was to intimidate opposing teams. 70% of the game they were pretty quiet. Need a conductor to push songs on it sounded as though forest had one

It's almost as if the away fans location wasn't the reason for our poor atmospheres...

[LuckyNumber7]

It started well but there was absolutely nothing to get excited about on the pitch, also quite often different blocks were singing different songs rather than it being in sync. The main issue though is we just don't have enough songs. I think it will be good in the long term but will take time to develop and get organised.

[Oldandtired]

I think it took about three minutes in to sing the shitty Pompey song. That has got so old now...

 

Edited 24 August, 2024 by Oldandtired

[Bob60]

Sit in the Itchen near the corner with Chapel. Barely heard the 'red wall' at all. Could only hear the away fans. Has not improved our experience at all.

Edited 24 August, 2024 by Bob60

[smithy]

29 minutes ago, Oldandtired said:

I think it took about three minutes in to sing the shitty Pompey song. That has got so old now...

 

It's usually under a minute, so that's progress

 

Edited 24 August, 2024 by smithy

[EssEffCee]

Did I imagine it or was there some version of allez allez allez that a small group started singing just before HT? 🤑

[LGTL]

As predicted, it’s just the Chapel Stand but stood up. Pointless. 

I applaud the club for trying, it’s not their fault that we just don’t have the support capable of producing anything decent rather than a cringe-fest.

Edited 24 August, 2024 by LGTL

[Killers Knee]

Wasn't there a "I believe that we will win!" chant? 

I suggest more flares and balaclavas are required

[aintforever]

I’m not sure what everyone was expecting, no one is going to start singing and making a noise just because they are sat in a different seat.

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, 6ft8saint said:

Could the red wall be any quieter. I thought the whole point was to intimidate opposing teams. 70% of the game they were pretty quiet. Need a conductor to push songs on it sounded as though forest had one

We need a guy like this. Maybe a role for voice of the fans Saintrob?

 

 

[Turkish]

17 minutes ago, aintforever said:

I’m not sure what everyone was expecting, no one is going to start singing and making a noise just because they are sat in a different seat.

Stood hun

[JRM]

1 hour ago, LGTL said:

As predicted, it’s just the Chapel Stand but stood up. Pointless. 

I applaud the club for trying, it’s not their fault that we just don’t have the support capable of producing anything decent rather than a cringe-fest.

And lack of proximity to the away fans also takes away an edge I think,  hoped it would work but think it'll be flat especially with more performances like today. 

Our supported up their game in the play offs but was never going to last